PROGRESSION: My Ironman Self Doubt, Choose Your Status Game Wisely, and the Psychology of Money
March 2022
March started out great. Then life delivered a roundhouse kick to the face. Then I found a fresh perspective. And now I’m just pushing forward. It’s amazing how much can happen in 31 days. I hope you find something in this email that lifts you up or pushes you in the right direction. See you in April. 🤜🤛
Books, articles, etc.
Choose Your Status Game Wisely by Nick Maggiulli (Article)
I recently started following Nick Maggiulli and he shared an insight that’s stuck with me. When we think of status my mind normally goes to wealth, but status varies significantly by the circles we run in. Here’s the full article. The quote below encapsulates the message:
“Whatever status game you choose in life ultimately determines what you optimize for. Choose money and you’ll end up working all the time. Choose beauty and you’ll always want to look better. Choose fame and you’ll constantly be seeking attention.
Each of these choices has consequences too. Your pursuit of wealth could leave your personal relationships in shambles. Your pursuit of beauty could impact your mental and physical health. Your pursuit of fame could end up ruining your reputation.
Whatever status game you decide to play, you have to ask yourself: are the benefits worth the costs?”
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Book)
When your favorite author and your CEO both recommend a book in the same week, you read that book.
Where some dystopian novels tell the story of a government controlling society’s every move, Fahrenheit 451 is set in a world where the people do the controlling for them. It’s the people that want to censor each other. So they burn every book in print.
In the words of Ryan Holiday, “Bradbury’s message is a much more salient warning to modern Americans than many of us are ready for upon first reading. America is, and always has been, in less danger of top-down Chinese or Soviet style suppression and much more vulnerable to short sighted or even well-intentioned democratic censorship.”
Despite being written almost 70 years ago, Fahrenheit 451 feels like it could have been published this year. Highly recommend.
The Psychology of Money Morgan Housel Interview by Tim Ferriss (Podcast)
Personal finance can be a boring, unappealing topic to many, but Housel is a master writer in this space and beautifully weaves in stories to bring to life the data he’s shared. (Crazy anecdote: Did you know that Warren Buffett made 99.6% of his money AFTER the age of 52?)
I enjoyed hearing Housel’s personal story and how he fell into writing after the 2008 economic crisis pushed him out of finance (kindred spirits, maybe?). It’s a reminder that disruptive periods in our life can present opportunities we’d never consider otherwise. After listening to the podcast I re-read his book, The Psychology of Money. Here are 18 lessons from the book but I recommend going straight to the source.
Observations
Trust the Process
This Saturday is the Oceanside Ironman 70.3. I’ve trained for triathlons in the past but not like this. In December I committed to an intense training plan that would put me in a position to beat my younger brother and, more importantly, set a personal record.
I’ve stuck to the plan, making sacrifices in other parts of my life to make time for cycling, running, and swimming workouts. I changed my approach. I added weight training. I tried to eat healthier. I committed to 80% of exercise time in Zone 2 (heart rate between 138 and 153 for me) or below which has helped me increase training volume while avoiding burnout and injury. I’ve noticed a difference, both how I feel and how I’ve performed in training.
But over the last week, self doubt started creeping in. Hard. Did I train enough? Did I train the right way? How much of that will actually matter? What will the conditions on race day look like? The voice of doubt has been relentless.
This morning I finished my final workout, a 20 min spin and one mile jog. The training plan is complete. I stuck to the plan. There’s nothing more to do but show up and compete.
It’s been said that when the time for performance has come, the time for preparation is past. All we can do is put in the work and give it our best. We can’t control what the weather is like. We can’t control whether there’s a flat tire. We can’t control what others do. We just show up, ignore the doubt, compete hard, and trust the process.
Why Neighbor Rejected an Unlimited Vacation Policy (And What We Did Instead)
In my role as VP of People at Neighbor, I have a big say in what our vacation policy looks like. After looking at several options, I decided an unlimited plan didn’t make sense. Here’s more on what we’re doing instead.
Gratitudes
I’ve found power in regularly expressing gratitude so I’ll continue the habit. I’m grateful for good neighbors. My company launched the #beneighborly campaign to share how doing little things in our neighborhood can have a big impact. I wrote this post about the relationship we built with our California neighbors and the richness it brought to our lives. Reflecting on our neighbors reminded me that it’s not enough just to serve, we need to allow others to serve us, which is often harder. I’m grateful for good neighbors. What are you grateful for?
Nathan
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